gas tube cleaning?

MPFD

MPFD

Well-known member
How often do you clean the gas tube on your AR's and how do you do it? I have a friend in the service and he says he never cleaned his the whole time he was in Iraq. I have sprayed choke and carb spray through mine followed by compressed air, but i'm not sure if this is the best thig to do. What do you guys do? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
I havent cleaned mine and I understand you shouldnt have to. You do not want to use anything flamable like carb cleaner.
 
Probably has much to do with what powder you are using, as well as some other factors, but I have never cleaned one either.

I built an upper for prairie dog hunting back about 16 years ago. The original barrel started to loose accuracy, so I swapped out the barrel. I used the same bolt/carrier, gas-block, and yes, gas-tube. The "new" barrel probably has 2000 rounds through it and I still haven't cleaned the gas-tube.
 
Think about it it's an open tube that just needs to allow a certain amount of gass to travel through, and it gets hit with somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 or 30,000 PSI every time you pull the trigger, higher if you have a shorter tube. There isn't much that is going to plug it other than the pipe cleaner that gets lost in it.
 
I just finished milatary traing on weapons maitance and nothing was said about that, I just run the pipe cleaner thrugh the short piece of it on the bolt, they was picky as hell on no black stuff left anywhere when we cleaned them,sometimes I think a little to picky on that but I guess it can't hurt to be to clean, just oil it when your done.
 
Midway sells some extra long pipe cleaners just for cleaning gas tubes. A pack of 20 of them should last a very long time. I have only used one so far, as you can get several cleanings with each one of them.
 
If the gas tube never needs cleaning and never causes any trouble then why do the special forces troops all opt for gas piston power guns like the HK's.
 
It has nothing to do with the gas-tube getting dirty. If that were the only issue, a dirty gas-tube, the tube could get replaced on a daily basis.

I'm not privy to what and why things are being done at the DOD, but that would have little to do with the way the folks on PM are using AR's anyway.
Bottom line: Don't worry about cleaning your gas-tube.
 
"If the gas tube never needs cleaning and never causes any trouble then why do the special forces troops all opt for gas piston power guns like the HK's."

Is that a fact? Source?
 
I can understand why the military would have soldiers clean the gas tube, they are known for doing things like that. But I can see no real world reason why anyone would clean a gas tube. If it needs cleaning, then just replace it, takes less time but ya better buy a bunch of them. I have never cleaned one.

Gas piston uppers don't fowl or carbon up the bolt group and that is whats a pain to clean. The piston systems are cleaner but don't neccesarily work any better than a gas operated system does. Piston systems are not new, they have been around for many, many years. They are, however, relatively new to AR's so it's different and that is what everyone wants, wether or not they work better is not the point, it's just different. Maybe they work more efficiently in the sand box but certainly not for varmint hunters.
 
A lot of people don't seem to realize that Stoner designed it without a piston to simplify the gas system and get rid of the problems that can mess with piston systems, it's hard to crack a piston or have it come loose if it doesn't have one!

The only real advantage to the piston system is that it runs cleaner, but it has several disadvantages that come with the piston, it's a compromise either way.
 
It's a new fad thing. I have an AR that is at least 30 years old that I have shot many thousands of rounds through. Never cleaned the gas tube. It still functions flawlessly.

Jack
 
Thats what all the programs on the Military chanel show them using during such programs as Weaponology, Navy seals, British SAS, and others I have seen.
 
Quote:
I had a customer bring me one to clean one time that a mud dauber had filled up. Does that count?



Yes... I suppose that would count /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
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